e was completed by the figures of the
women on the roofs, or moving down the slope, erect and supple, carrying
on the head a water jar, and holding together by one hand the mantle
worn like a Spanish _rebozo_. The village is irregularly built, without
much regard to streets or alleys, and it has no special side of entrance
or approach. Every side presents a blank wall of adobe, and the entrance
seems quite by chance. Yet the way we went over, the smooth slope was
worn here and there in channels three or four inches deep, as if by the
passing feet of many generations. The only semblance of architectural
regularity is in the plaza, not perfectly square, upon which some of the
houses look, and where the annual dances take place. The houses have the
effect of being built in terraces rising one above the other, but it is
hard to say exactly what a house is--whether it is anything more than
one room. You can reach some of the houses only by aid of a ladder. You
enter others from the street. If you will go farther you must climb a
ladder which brings you to the roof that is used as the sitting-room or
door-yard of the next room. From this room you may still ascend to
others, or you may pass through low and small door-ways to other
apartments. It is all haphazard, but exceedingly picturesque. You may
find some of the family in every room, or they may be gathered, women
and babies, on a roof which is protected by a parapet. At the time of
our visit the men were all away at work in their fields. Notwithstanding
the houses are only sun-dried bricks, and the village is without water
or street commissioners, I was struck by the universal cleanliness.
There was no refuse in the corners or alleys, no odors, and many of the
rooms were patterns of neatness. To be sure, an old woman here and there
kept her hens in an adjoining apartment above her own, and there was the
litter of children and of rather careless house-keeping. But, taken
altogether, the town is an example for some more civilized, whose
inhabitants wash oftener and dress better than these Indians.

[Illustration: TERRACED HOUSES, PUEBLO OF LAGUNA.]

We were put on friendly terms with the whole settlement through three or
four young maidens who had been at the Carlisle school, and spoke
English very prettily. They were of the ages of fifteen and sixteen, and
some of them had been five years away. They came back, so far as I could
learn, gladly to their own people and to the